


We Fought About a Dog

by TheWaffleBat



Series: Home From All The Ports [10]
Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types
Genre: Dad!Barnabas, Dad!Herodotus, Dad!Nikolaos, Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, Kassandra keeps bringing home dangerous wildlife and Barnabas is Done™!, Pets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-11-18 11:29:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18119909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWaffleBat/pseuds/TheWaffleBat
Summary: Barnabas squinted at Lykaon. “Is that another bear? Herodotus, please tell me that isn't a bear?" He sighed. "Kassandra my friend, I thought we agreed no bears after the havoc it wreaked last time.” He scowled, then; looked sharply at Kassandra. “Where on Zeus’ green earth did you find a wolf the size of a bear, and why is it friends with you?”Barnabas is, generally, very good about the animals Kassandra brings home. Her new wolf, however, is a bit concerning.





	We Fought About a Dog

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Rudyard Kipling's _Follow Me 'Ome._
> 
> Written for the prompt from ChillinLikeVillains; _Also since you’re looking for prompts, maybe the Dads’ reaction to seeing Kassandra’s wolf for the first time? Or Kassandra finds another animal and tames it, and they try to lecture her on not rescuing every dangerous animal she sees just because she thinks they’re cute?_

The Adrestia tugged on her moorings, as restless for the open sea waiting beyond as Kassandra was, the wide sweep of the water calling like the gulls wheeling overhead. She waved to Barnabas and Nikolaos leaned against the railing, waiting for her, and carefully guided Phobos around a group of people clustered around a market stall, her wolf trotting loyally behind. The crowd parted easily for her, half because of Phobos snorting and stomping impatiently and half because of her pet glowering in her shadow.

After so long travelling by ship Phobos was long used to stepping on the deck; no longer snorting and wild-eyed as the ground shifted beneath her feet with every rock of the waves, and Kassandra handed her off to one of the crew for her to be settled in her stall below deck, called to her wolf milling uncertainly on the dock. “Lykaon!” She said, but the wolf only scratched nervously at the ramp, a whine deep in his throat, because he was new to being Kassandra's; he'd never seen a ship before.

No matter - there was always a trick to get an animal to follow; from her saddlebag she pulled out her rations, tearing off a piece of bread from the stale loaf, and sure enough Lykaon was there to snap it up when she tossed it at him, leaning warm against her legs.

Ah, such a beautiful thing he was! Not so large or grand as the one Daphne had asked she kill but perhaps his son - he was still big and fierce, even when he nosed into her hand looking for more, shoved his snout into her neck with a whuff. Black fur shaggy across his shoulders, eyes as bright gold as a setting sun, brilliant and shining in the dark of his face. Beautiful!

She scratched him fondly while Barnabas and Herodotus stared at him. “What?”

Barnabas squinted at Lykaon. “Is that another bear? Herodotus, please tell me that isn't a bear?" He sighed. "Kassandra my friend, I thought we agreed _no bears_  after the havoc it wreaked last time.” He scowled, then; looked sharply at Kassandra. “Where on Zeus’ green earth did you find a _wolf_ the size of a _bear_ , and why is it friends with you?”

Kassandra frowned at him, scratching behind Lykaon’s ears, across his cheeks; lifted her chin when Lykaon butting his head into her belly only made her stumble _a little_. “My wolves have never bothered you before,” She said, brushing fur from her leggins. “And I’ve missed having a pet around since my last one was killed - Lykaon was happy enough to come home with me.”

“Your last wolf,” Said Herodotus, watching Lykaon warily from his usual place at the benches, “Was a sensible size. Lykaon seems a bit...”

She huffed at them, because Lykaon was a perfectly sized wolf! Big, yes - he was at least as tall as Phobos - but that wasn’t any fault of his, any more than Kassandra being so tall, too. And most of his bulk was fluff, anyway. _Lykaon_ certainly didn’t think he was such a big wolf when he flopped across her legs or stood his massive forepaws on her shoulder, crushing her beneath him in the middle of the night. So what if he was taller than most wolves? He was friendly, and really very sweet when a bandit happened across her asleep in camp and he launched himself at them, lips wrinkled back from teeth sharp as her blades flashing in the light of her dying fire; an easy kill in the bandit's surprise and then howling threats to warn away anyone else who would think to try their luck.

Kassandra stroked across Lykaon’s back, watched him smiling into the sunshine as he enjoyed the warmth of it. Such a good wolf; not even a wrinkle of his lips or a rumble of a growl when she passed her hand down the still-healing wounds slashed across the meat of his shoulder. Nikolaos took a step closer, offered his hand and Lykaon - with a glance at Kassandra to make sure she wasn’t drawing her sword or looked like she was _going_ to - shoved himself close for the petting, head low and ears lower, as sweet for Nikolaos as he was for her.

“He seems friendly enough,” Said Nikolaos reasonably. “Yes, he’s quite a big animal, but this is no different than the last wolf she brought home not so long ago, and he’s certainly a nicer pet than that lynx. Or the lion. What harm is there? He’s a good boy, isn’t he?” He cooed, and Lykon butted Nikolaos’ chest in demand and agreement. “And Kassandra knows what she’s doing - her wolves have all been very good for all of us, and you cannot deny he'll make quite the guard for the ship.”

“Thank you, Nikolaos,” She said primly.

Barnabas flung his hands to the air. “You’re all mad!” He said. “First it was a normal wolf, then it was that lynx that tore up my tunic,  _then_ it was that lion who thought he could fight Poseidon,  _and then_ it was that mad bear who ate my sandal and clawed up the mast! And this wolf is her size! He's not something even _you_ could wrestle down. What if he doesn't take too kindly to Poseidon’s seas? Where will we be then? One daughter down and a mad animal the size of a house, that's where!”

Kassandra looked to Herodotus, who stroked his beard thoughtfully. Regarded her with soft eyes because he knew Kassandra trusted that Lykaon was a good wolf; that he was as friendly as dogs for anyone Kassandra didn’t draw a blade to. He’d snarled at her, yes, when she came across him in his den bleeding out from a bear’s claws - the bear dead not too far from him - and his pack murdered all around him, but he was _hurt_ , so she didn’t hold it against him. Just a gentle touch of her hand to his head, patching him up as best she could using her scant mercenary’s healing skills, a murmur that she was a _friend_ , that she could be _pack_ if he wanted to follow on her heels, and he was hers; letting her work without even a growl.

He was _good_ , and so what if he was big and tall and a little frightening? Kassandra was too. She wasn’t dainty and pretty, her hands long-fingered and fine-boned; Alkibiades had complimented her for being so big and strong, broad-shouldered as some men he’d taken to bed. Her fingers had been broken, healed wrong, and broken again; thick and strong and made rough by the calluses tough on her palm where a hilt would rest. Her skin was no dewy flower’s petal just opened to the sun, her face not even the kindest, most besotted sculptor’s Venus. It was no bad thing to be no normal wolf on the Adrestia, where all of them were strange wolves.

Herodotus called the wolf to him, stroked Lykon’s strong brow and soft, ragged pelt. Got no snarl from him when Herodotus touched the wounded skin where fur was just starting to grow back. “I agree with Nikolaos, Barnabas. Perhaps," He said, with a look at Kassandra, "We ought to question her taste in all her other pets - that bear  _was_ a disaster waiting to happen - but Lykaon is no different to any of her other wolves, and he seems sweet enough.”

Barnabas’s shoulders slumped, and he sighed, defeated, because Kassandra knew he did like having her animals trotting around the ship, nails clicking against the wood and jumping to the sea after the sticks the crew hurled for them. Liked having something in her shadow that loved her and could kill when it needed to when she went haring across Greece after one thing or another. “Oh, fine,” He said, pretending to still be annoyed when Kassandra squeezed him close in a hug and pretending even more that he didn’t squeeze her back, pressing his mouth to her hair when she ducked down for the affectionate kiss. “But he stays out of my bedroll - I was nearly crushed by your last wolf thinking she could lie on my chest!”

**Author's Note:**

> Any other prompts, feel free to comment them! And not just for AC Odyssey, any fandom I've done + Witcher 3 is welcome.


End file.
